Diabetic women find exercise more difficult: Study

Women with type 2 diabetes find it more difficult to exercise, which could make them sedentary and cause their health to worsen, a new study has found

Washington: Women with type 2 diabetes find it more difficult to exercise, which could make them sedentary and cause their health to worsen, a new study has found.

"We know regular physical activity prevents premature disability and mortality from Type 2 diabetes mellitus and is a critical part of disease management," said Amy Huebschmann, at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

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"However, many people with the disease are generally sedentary for reasons that are not fully established," Huebschmann said.

The study looked at 54 overweight women between 50 and 75 years old who reported doing less than one hour of physical activity per week. Approximately half of them had type 2 diabetes while the others did not.

Women were studied because the effects of type 2 diabetes on exercise and cardiovascular function are typically worse among females than males. All of the women exercised on a stationary bicycle at a low to moderate intensity similar to the work needed to walk one mile in 25 minutes.

The researchers found significantly higher lactate levels during low to moderate intensity exercise in people with type 2 diabetes than their counterparts without the disease.

“Exercise effort is an important barrier to physical activity because it is modifiable," the study said, "and the perception of more intense effort during exercise has been associated with lower levels of usual physical activity."

The study was published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care.

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